1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dispensers and serving devices, and more particularly to an apparatus and method of providing and administering medicants to persons who have difficulty swallowing pills which utilizes a prepackaged serving container having a concave recessed mixing chamber and a flat, generally rectangular, serving surface.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore it has been very difficult to administer oral medicants to persons who have difficulty swallowing pills, such as in the case of infants, elderly persons, paralyzed persons, and heart attack and stroke victims. Some patients have lost the capacity to remove the contents from the bowl of a conventional spoon with the lips and/or tongue, others have psychological or physical difficulty swallowing whole pills, and others do not want to be medicated and will fake swallowing a pill and later spit it out. In these situations, nurses usually administer crushed pills in a food substance.
The usual practice in administering oral medication to these individuals is to crush and/or mix the oral medication in with spoon-size servings of food products having a pleasant taste, such as applesauce or jelly in a medicine cup. The small dosage of the mixture is placed on a tongue depressor, the tongue depressor is placed in the person's mouth, and the mixture is wiped off on the inside of the person's cheek or onto their tongue.
The above described method utilizes a medicine cup and a wooden tongue depressor. Due to the inefficiency of the mixing and serving utensils, the dosage is not always accurate and wastage of the medication results. It also requires that the mixing medium be refrigerated. The procedure is time consuming and often not sanitary.
There are several patents which disclose various covered spoon devices. However, once uncovered, they are used in the manner of a conventional spoon, and would not be suitable for use in administering medicants to persons who have little or no control over the muscles of their mouth or difficulty in swallowing.
Tunick, U.S. Pat. No. 1,708,456 discloses a folding paper spoon which in the unfolded condition has a folding handle with a bowl at one end and a disk at the opposite end and is used for packaging pre-measured amounts of medical powders. The handle is folded in the middle and the disk snaps fits onto the bowl to cover and seal the bowl containing the powder.
Miner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,389,530 discloses a compartment measure having a bowl-like end divided into compartments by a plurality of transverse partitions of predetermined capacity, a scale marked intermediate portion and a handle portion. A flat gate member is slidably connected to the device to selectively cover the compartments.
Kellerman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,806 discloses a spoon having a peelable cover. The device has a bowl portion containing a measured amount of material, a handle portion, and a thin flexible sheet cover is removably secured over the bowl.
Ushkow et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,662,463 and 3,911,578 disclose a spoon having a bowl portion containing a measured amount of material and either a thin flexible sheet cover which is removably sealed over the bowl, or a rigid plastic cover which snap fits over the bowl. The handle may be removably attached to the bowl or may be formed integral therewith.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a generally rectangular prepackaged serving container having a concave recessed mixing chamber, a flat, generally rectangular, serving surface extending forwardly from the mixing chamber, and a handle portion extending rearwardly from the mixing chamber. The mixing chamber contains a measured amount of food product. A flat generally rectangular mixing spatula is removably received along the top surface of the serving container and has a head portion substantially covering the contents of the mixing chamber. A removable flexible cover is peelably attached to the top surfaces of the serving container and the spatula and forms an air tight seal for the serving container and its contents.
The present invention is particularly useful in administering medicants to persons who have little or no control over the muscles of their mouth or, for other reasons, cannot swallow pills. In use, the cover is peeled off the serving container and the spatula is removed. The oral medication in the form of a crushed pill or powder is placed into the mixing chamber and is thoroughly mixed with the food product using the spatula. The spatula is then inserted into the mixture at the rear of the mixing chamber and pushed forward to transfer the mixture onto the serving surface at the forward end of the serving container. The serving surface at the forward end of the serving container with the mixture thereon is placed in the recipient's mouth and the mixture is wiped off on the inside of the recipient's cheek or onto their tongue.